The Ioniq 6 is the least logical progression from Hyundai’s well-done Ioniq 5 crossover. But it works. Really well. Going from an SUV to a sedan seems counterintuitive, given the way the automotive market seems to shun sedans. Yet this is one of the best sedans we’ve driven lately.
The 2024 Hyundai Ioniq 6 is a midsize sedan with an upscale look and feel. Introduced in 2023, the Ioniq 6 turns heads wherever it goes and is one of those electric vehicles that is an actual vehicle that happens to be electric. Instead of the other way around. Early adopters might think that the batteries are the focal point and the rest of the vehicle should follow, but for mainstream buyers, that space-age, procrustean, “everything is a screen now” design is not appealing.
Enter well-designed vehicles like the Ioniq 6. It’s not without its quirks, of course. But it’s one of several very well-done EVs I’ve driven in the past year. Hyundai and Kia definitely have the market pegged and are producing some well-done electrics. Others are following suit, but with rockier results. The Koreans have a good idea of what people will buy and how to make it usable in the real world. Outside of the luxury market, it’s tougher to find competitors for them that are as consistent.
The 2024 Ioniq 6 comes in a few flavors. The single-motor model (rear-wheel drive) has a 53 kWh battery pack and produces 149 horsepower (110 kW). The EPA estimated range for this model is 240 miles (386 km). Given our experience with the all-wheel drive dual-motor model, though, that’s probably conservative.
Nissan Promises Aggressive Electrification Push to Cut Costs, Boost Global Sales March 25, 2024
Introduction:
(AP via Asahi Shimbun) Nissan will expand its electric vehicle lineup, develop more powerful batteries and cut production costs, while speeding up the whole process, in what the Japanese automaker’s chief called “The Arc” pathway to higher sales by 2030.
“The auto industry is now being forced to reshape its values so we can say continuous change is the new normal,” Chief Executive Makoto Uchida told reporters Monday, in outlining a sprawling but ambitious business plan.
“Nissan must change. We cannot succeed if we continue along the same path.”
Costs will come down for electric models so they’ll be about the same as gasoline-engine models by fiscal 2030, while global sales will grow by a million vehicles during that period, he added.
Last year, Nissan Motor Co. sold nearly 3.4 million vehicles around the world, up about 5% from the previous year.
Gravity curbside EV chargers zap 200 miles in under 15 minutes
By C.C. Weiss
March 27, 2024
Gravity Technologies is working hard to make electric vehicle charging faster and more widely available, particularly in populous cities like its home base of New York. Just weeks removed from launching the fastest charging station in the United States, it's revealed new 200-kW curbside chargers designed to bring its world-beating fast-charging tech to the streets. The company says its latest hardware is the same size as a conventional Level 2 charger but 30 times faster – quick enough to give a substantial charge while parked for short bodega or deli stop.
It's easy to imagine large EV charging stations in suburbs and alongside superhighways, but when it becomes much harder when thinking about city centers so dense and crowded drivers have trouble finding parking spots each and every day. Compounding that problem is the fact that at-home charging is a more complex issue for apartments and other multi-unit dwellings common in urban areas - so urban EV drivers can't necessarily rely on overnight charging, either.
That threatens to be a major obstacle for EV adoption moving forward, as more than half the world's population lives in cities and that number is only expected to get bigger in the coming decades.
Tesla Cybertruck Is the Top Selling Electric Truck Starting This Week
March 28, 2024 by Brian Wang
Tesla will start its inevitable reign as the top selling electric truck in the world starting this week. Joe Tegtmeyer, Gigatexas watcher, reports that Tesla is now making 900-1000 per week. The figure of 1000 per week (aka 4100 per month) is enough to outsell both the Ford F-150 Lightning and the Rivian R1T. The combined weekly sales of the Ford F-150 Lighting (500-700 per week) and the Rivian R1T (less than 300 per week) is 800-1000 per week.
